Puttin' On the Ritz
by Housaholic32
Summary: The men of PPTH attend the second annual hosptial benifit. There are bets all around as House and Wilson play cards, while Foreman and Chase vie for the affections of a lovely lady. A one shot.


Putting On the Ritz

House and Wilson entered Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital dressed in their tuxedos. They looked around to see it almost exactly as it had been set uo for last years benefit. House and Wilson grabbed a deck of cards, two glasses and a bottle of whiskey and took a seat at the nearest table.

"So, what's the game?" Wilson asked.

"Poker?" House sugested as he poured him and Wilson a drink.

"Oh, we always play poker, how about something different?" Wilson moaned.

"Such as?" House asked.

"How about cheat?" Wilson offered.

"Fine, sounds good to me." House responded. "But lets make it a bit more exciting!" House wiggled his eyebrows.

"Fifty bucks exciting enough?" Wilson asked

"No, money's not interesting. How about, if I win, you cook me breakfast for a year-gotta love those macadamia nut pancakes." House smirked.

"Deal, and if I win...you ask..." Wilson paused and looked around. He spotted the woman he had been looking for and nodded in her direction "her, out on a date."

House contemplated the offer.

"Deal" house said. Him and Wilson shook hands.

"You know your going down right? I happen to be a human lie detector." House said confidently.

"We'll see."

House began to deal the cards.

As House and Wilson began to play, Chase and Foreman chatted at their own table.

"So, you wanna come with me to the game Saturday?" Chase asked. "I got front row seats."

"Yeah I'll go, whoa! Check out that girl over in the corner!" Foreman nodded in the direction of an extravagant looking woman in a slender black dress. Her long flowing brown hair fell freely down her back. "Who is that?" Foreman was practically drooling.

"I-I don't know, but she's beautiful" Chase stammered.

"Yeah, she is." A rather large grin suddenly appeared on Foreman's face. "Hey, I bet you that I could go over there and score a date with her."

"Are you crazy? With me here you don't stand a chance! the ladies love my boyish charm." Chase crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair.

"Care to bet something on it?" Foreman asked mischievously.

"Alright, if I win you gotta get up there" Chase nodded to the stage "and sing a song, of my choice!" Chase looked smug "You gotta song 'I come from a land down under'! And you have to dedicate to the coolest Australian you've ever known."

"Who the crocodile hunter?" Foreman asked jokingly.

"No, me!" Chase retorted.

"Yeah Chase I know, I was just…ah never mind I accept." An evil idea came to Foreman. "But if I win, you have shave your head!"

"What! You must be joking…" Chase said with worry in his voice.

"Afraid you'll lose?" Asked Foreman.

Chase couldn't back down. "Fine your on!" he said confidently.

The two men shook hands.

Meanwhile the friendly game of cheat was just getting interesting.

"Cheat!" House yelled as Wilson played three cards that he claimed were sixes.

"Damnit!" Wilson picked up the fifteen odd cards that had been discarded. "So, you excited about the possibility of going on a date with her?" Wilson looked up at House. "Two sevens." he dropped the cards on the table.

"Well there's no reason to be excited, there is no way I'm losing." House kept his eyes on his cards. "Besides I don't think she'd accept the offer." House looked up at Wilson. "One eight." He placed one card on top of Wilson's.

"Are you kidding me? She's dying to go out with you-she has been for as long as I can remember!" He tapped his fingers on the intricate oak table. "Three nines." He put the cards on the table.

"I guess we'll just have to see then." House looked up and glared at her, he'd known her for years and even now he was still taken back by her beauty. The satin red dress she wore seemed to fit her just right. It brought out her beautiful eyes and seemed to accentuate all of her best features. She was mesmerizing. House snapped back to reality. "Uh, two tens." He threw the cards on the table. House took a large sip of whiskey.

Wilson looked over and noticed who House had been staring at. "Right" He said. "Your not excited at all."

Meanwhile Foreman and Chase were getting ready to bring their "A game".

"Alright I'm going. Be sure to warm up your voice while I'm gone." Chase said coolly as he stood up and put his hand on Foreman's shoulder.

"Whatever you say Chase." Foreman was chuckling.

As Chase walked towards his prey he thought up a course of action. 'She looks like she has a good sense of humor-be funny, be cool'. The closer Chase got to her the more confident he felt. She was beautiful, but Chase wasn't fazed. After all, he dealt with beautiful women all the time. Chase stood next to her.

"The name is Chase. Robert Chase." He said to her very nonchalantly. "And you are?"

"I'm Carmen." Her voice was soft yet strong.

"So do you come here often?" Chase said as he took a sip of his martini.

"To the hospital?" She let out a faint sigh and rolled her beautiful green eyes slightly. She knew his type.

Chase was in trouble. He went into crisis control mode, failure was not an option. "Yeah, look I'm sorry that was a dumb. Can we try again?" Chase was looking at her with nervous apprehension.

"No I'd rather not. It was nice to meet you though Richard." She shot him a complimentary smile and walked away, leaving Chase in utter disbelief.

"It's-it's Robert actually." Chase ran his hands through his thick gorgeous hair before anging his head in defeat. He placed his hands in his pockets and walked over to the table.

"How'd it go Casanova?" Foreman already knew the answer.

"Shut up." Chase looked completely dazed. "Wait 'till you try." Chase nodded towards Carmen "That woman is unbelievable."

Foreman chuckled. "Watch how a real man does it." He stood up and headed towards Carmen.

On the way he passed House and Wilson, who seemed to be yelling at each other.

"Cheat!" Wilson yelled excitedly. He almost had House beat.

"What the hell?" House was clearly frustrated. He picked up a large pile of discarded cards. He looked over at Wilson who now had only five cards left in his hand.

"So where you going to take her?" Wilson had a large smile pasted on his face.

"Well to my place of course, I've got a great Barry White CD that we can get down to." House said dryly.

"Come on, seriously House."

"I guess if she says yes then I can take her to the fair next Friday, I think she'd like that." House said honestly. "Four aces." He dropped the cards.

"Yeah, I think she would." Wilson replied. "Two two's." Victory was within his grasp.

House looked up to see Foreman chatting with a very beautiful woman across the room.

"Hi there., my name is Eric." Foreman said genuinely.

"Hi, Carmen" Carmen looked up into his big brown eyes before extending her hand.

Foreman shook it and smiled at her.

"I just came over to see how you were doing. I noticed that Dr. Chase was here talking to you earlier, and I wanted to make sure you were okay." He said.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She asked jokingly.

"No reason. I was just watching you and you seemed upset after he left." Foreman replied.

"Ah, so you were watching me, were you?" She said as she rested her hand on his chest.

"Well, how could I not? Your beautiful." Foreman looked down into her eyes.

"Thank you." She was blushing slightly.

"Your very welcome." He poured her a glass of Champaign. "Do you maybe want to go out to dinner with me sometime, Carmen?" Foreman asked sweetly.

"I think that's a great idea. Just let me…" She opened her purse and handed Foreman a business card. "There you go. Call me at that number and we'll figure something out." She kissed Foreman gently on the cheek.

"Will do. It was nice meeting you Carmen." Foreman said.

"It was nice meeting you too, Eric." She walked away and waved at him.

Foreman took a deep breath, and let out a subtle laugh. He looked down at the business card again. Foreman walked over to Chase slowly and sat down.

"Well?" Chase was completely terrified.

"Snip, snip my little koala bear." Foreman threw the card at Chase and began to laugh hysterically.

Chase sighed and let his head fall into his hands. 'This is horrible' he thought to himself.

Meanwhile the heated game of cheat was just coming to an end.

"One king!" Wilson yelled as he dropped his final card on the table.

House threw his hand on the table and hung his head in defeat.

"Oh House, stop pretending to be upset." Wilson said.

"What are you talking about?" House looked up and stared at Wilson.

"You totally let me win, look…" Wilson began to go through the pile "See this, you knew I was lying and you didn't say anything. You wanted to ask her out." Wilson shot House a soft smile. "You don't have to be ashamed House."

House nodded slightly and stood up.

"Go get her champ." Wilson shouted.

"Oh, shut up!" House snapped back. He slowly walked over to her. She was standing in the further most corner of the room. House held his breath in nervous anticipation. 'This is it, it's now or never.' he thought to himself.

"Hey" His voice was so low that she had barely heard him-barely.

She looked up. He gazed deeply into her big beautiful eyes. He began to melt inside. His legs felt weak and his throat felt dry. He wanted so badly to touch her, to hold her-but he couldn't, not yet. He finally spoke again.

"Do you uh…wanna go with me to the fair next Friday?" House looked down at the floor.

"I'd love to House." She replied.

He looked up and smiled at her.

"Great." House was beaming and so was she.

The End.


End file.
